Officer
Chasing Motorcyclist Dies
After a Car Crash

By KEVIN FLYNN

A police
officer pursuing a suspected motorcycle thief in a high-speed chase
was killed yesterday when his unmarked patrol car spun out of control
and hit a utility pole along a service road to the Staten Island
Expressway, officials said.

Investigators said Officer John M. Kelly, driving alone, had
been racing to catch the motorcycle when his car veered off Gulf
Avenue in the Bloomfield section about 1:20 p.m. and crashed into
a wooden utility pole, which became deeply imbedded in the driver's
side of the vehicle.

Officer Kelly suffered multiple injuries, including head injuries.
Doctors at St. Vincent's Medical Center on Staten Island worked
to keep him alive, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said. But he was pronounced
dead at 4:55 p.m. His wife, Patricia, who is also a police officer,
and other family members were at his side.

"They kept him alive long enough so his mother could be
here with him," Mr. Giuliani said, looking weary, as he stood
outside the hospital with Police Commissioner Howard Safir moments
after the officer died.

Officer Kelly, 31, an eight-year veteran who was assigned to
the Auto Larceny Unit on Staten Island, was the second officer
killed in the line of duty this year. The other, Officer David
Regan, 28, died in May when his patrol car collided with a newspaper
delivery truck at a Brooklyn intersection.

In describing their grief yesterday, officials spoke not only
about Officer Kelly's dedication, which was evident, they said,
in the four police decorations he had received, but also of his
family's contributions to the city's public safety.

In addition to his wife, who is assigned to the 120th Precinct
on Staten Island, and their two boys, 9 months and 2 years old,
Officer Kelly is survived by three brothers who are New York City
police officers, officials said. And his wife has two brothers
on the force, a sister who recently retired from the Police Department
and a brother who is a city firefighter.